131 réponses à ce sujet

[Senya]

They were smart to choose a city with a significant martial tradition and a Circle. It would explain how the human noble is talented enough to be the player character.

[Han Shot First]

Given Ostwick's position on the map, it would probably have quite a bit of sea-based trade with both Highever and Amaranthine. That might explain some of the cultural similarities with Ferelden. 

[riverbanks]

I guess that's where I disagree. They don't seem vague to me. Vague to me is Elder Scrolls.. A mystery prisoner waking up with amnesia. lol. Dragon Age has always has had a more cinematic take, more specific anchors in the story. You share a relationship with the writers to create the character.

 

I want to play a Rivaini or Antivan as much as anyone, but I don't want to force it. But I'm not going to stop anyone from trying. And really, I only warn against having direct lineage (like a mother or father.. maybe grandparents). What if you end up meeting them?

 

Elder Scrolls isn't a vague background, it's a nonexistant one. Vague is "yeah you're from Ostwick and your family sent you to the Chantry but you can like or dislike that or whatever" / "yeah you're a mage in the Circle and the Circle rebelled but you can agree or disagree with them or whatever"

 

In any case, I really doubt we'll be directly meeting people from our backgrounds, for several reasons, but we'll see. The good thing about headcanon is that it's adjustable - one piece doesn't fit, you shift the others around until everything falls into place again.

[LukaCrosszeria]

Given Ostwick's position on the map, it would probably have quite a bit of sea-based trade with both Highever and Amaranthine. That might explain some of the cultural similarities with Ferelden. 

Yeah but it still doesn't gel for me that Ostwick has a teyrn. It's not Ferelden

 

I'm very curious about the Circle of Ostwick and the Trevelyan backstory... It would be cool to know if Trevelyan mage gets special treatment because their family has strong ties with the Chantry.

 

Seems likely. My quizzy will resent his forced stay at the Ostwick circle and will gleefully join the mages in the fight for freedom.

[LukaCrosszeria]

The title of teyrn goes back before there was even a Ferelden. Ferelden as we know it is fairly recent- starting with Calenhad. Before Calenhad, it was different factions of Alammari tribes, ruled by landowners 
(banns and teyrns). There was a lot more teyrns floating around too, until Calenhad killed them off (leaving Highever as one of the last to stand).

 

It could be that some of these Alammari traveled and planted the old culture on the opposite coast. Ostwick.. is basically right across the sea.

 

I hadn't considered that, I just tied the title of teyrn to Ferelden but you're right.

[Hydwn]

The title of teyrn goes back before there was even a Ferelden. Ferelden as we know it is fairly recent- starting with Calenhad. Before Calenhad, it was different factions of Alammari tribes, ruled by landowners 
(banns and teyrns). There was a lot more teyrns floating around too, until Calenhad killed them off (leaving Highever as one of the last to stand).
 
It could be that some of these Alammari traveled and planted the old culture on the opposite coast. Ostwick.. is basically right across the sea.

 
These are for Kirkwall, but given that Ostwick is closer across the sea to Vigil's Keep - once an Alamarri outpost - and to Denerim, this seems relevant:
 
"It is as we thought. The quarries of Kirkwall were found after the city was sacked by the Imperium and after they started constructing the city. The Imperium found the mineral wealth, not the indigenous people. The histories give conflicting accounts on who lived here before the Imperium. Some say the Alamarri. Some say the Daefads. We do know it was a barbarian people who had little need of the metals in the hills." - from the Enigma of Kirkwall
 
Then the freeing of the city:
 
"It started when an Alamarri slave named Radun began earning popularity and power by pushing for better conditions. Radun's growing influence prevented the magisters from touching him, but eventually they had him poisoned. Furious, a group of Radun's supporters stormed the gallows and were massacred, and so began a bloody yearlong rebellion." - from the History of Kirkwall

 

Also, it should be noted that if they weren't there already, the Alamarri were given the Free Marches as part of Maferath's deal with the Magisters for Andraste.

[heretica]

Yeah but it still doesn't gel for me that Ostwick has a teyrn. It's not Ferelden

 

 

Seems likely. My quizzy will resent his forced stay at the Ostwick circle and will gleefully join the mages in the fight for freedom.

Yeah. That's how I see my future mage reacting to it. It will be funny because I plan on romancing Cullen too. We'll see how that goes. 

[john-in-france]

I've been reading the books recently and somewhere I vaguely remember a one liner about the people of Ostwick having a reputation for fighting against pirates.

 

Maxwell and Evelyn are the default Trevelyan names.

 

Ostwick city has two walls, had a Circle tower and therefore a Templar contingent. The Trevelyans are said to have ties to the Templar order in the wiki...though I'm sure that last time I looked it said Templar and Chantry connections.

[Mistic]

The title of teyrn goes back before there was even a Ferelden. Ferelden as we know it is fairly recent- starting with Calenhad. Before Calenhad, it was different factions of Alammari tribes, ruled by landowners 
(banns and teyrns). There was a lot more teyrns floating around too, until Calenhad killed them off (leaving Highever as one of the last to stand).

 

It could be that some of these Alammari traveled and planted the old culture on the opposite coast. Ostwick.. is basically right across the sea.

 

Well said.

 

Also, as others have poited out in this thread, the Alamarri were the dominant power in Andraste's and Maferath's barbarian army that conquered the southern lands of Tevinter. While Maferath and his sons died not long after the former's treason was discovered, the different tribes settled in different places (even the elves were treated as one of these tribes, and were given the Dales). In WoT, for example, there's a codex entry about Jeshavis, Mother of Orlais. The addendum says:

 

"Many culturally distinct communities were forcibly merged during the rule of Maferath and his sons, ostensibly to create more efficient barriers against the likelihood of a Tevinter return to conquest. The effects of this relocation can still be observed in many Orlesian, Nevarran, and Free Marcher traditions."

 

I think Ostwick might have been one of the Marcher territories awarded to the Alamarri tribes. Orlais was once one of them, but Jeshavis made Maferath's sons fight against each other and in the end took the territory for the Ciriane tribe. Since the Free Marches imploded in different states, I wouldn't be surprised if the Alamarri managed to keep some of them instead of being displaced by another tribe. You don't need Ferelden as a neighbour to explain the use of the term teyrn.

[john-in-france]

Not too keen on Evelyn either....At lest Maxwell could default to the Nordic Magnus, Evelyn is just another spelling of Aveline.

[john-in-france]

Owyn actually sounds good, one of the knights of the round table, not to mention several Welsh heroes.

[Mistic]

Not too keen on Evelyn either....At lest Maxwell could default to the Nordic Magnus, Evelyn is just another spelling of Aveline.

 

So those are the default Trevelyan names? Interesting. Evelyn makes sense, actually. It's an English adaptation of the French Aveline, which in turn was introduced by the Normans in England. It looks Free Marcher enough.

 

I've checked the wiki for more names. So the Qunari will be Kaaras ("Navigator") for males and Herah ("Time") for females, and Lady Elven Inquisitor will be Valya (like the protagonist in Last Flight, so it's a known elven name) and Lady Dwarven Inquisitor will be Malika (an Arabic name, interesting).

[john-in-france]

Going by the name of the city Ostwick - I'm looking for Scottish/Scandinavian first names for my characters.

 

I suppose Aveline and her many variants in spelling would be popular because of the story of Ser Aveline...but meh...Jane Doe.

[Tevinter Soldier]

I'm still disapointed that the Mage origin wasn't another amell

[john-in-france]

You never know...cousins?

[raging_monkey]

You never know...cousins?

a hawke-amell-trevelyan family dynasty... headcanon accepted

[AresKeith]

You never know...cousins?

Don't joke about that

[john-in-france]

I wasn't joking, we have Amells in the Redcliffe area, Amells in Kirkwall...there could be a branch of the family tree in Ostwick...and then it would be the saga of the three Amells. You've got to admit that is worth the LULZ for at least one playthrough. 

 

@StreetMagic Thanks for the link!